Link to the University of Pittsburgh
Link to the University Library SystemContact us link
AEI Banner

The Trap of Geopolitics: Rethinking EU Strategic Communication. College of Europe Policy Brief March 2021.

Valenza, Domenico (2021) The Trap of Geopolitics: Rethinking EU Strategic Communication. College of Europe Policy Brief March 2021. [Policy Paper]

[img] PDF - Published Version
Download (321Kb)

    Abstract

    As part of the European Union’s current ‘geopolitical turn’, strategic communication – combining reactive messaging and proactive narrative-building – is a key element of the EU’s response to increasing global contestation. Through its reactive component, the EU’s strategic communication is very much focussed on Russia, but still largely neglects that many other foreign and domestic actors deploy disinformation techniques, too. With its proactive component, the EU uses narrative-building and, in so doing, resorts to aggressive ‘othering’ – disregarding the role of ‘listening’ practices in building trust and mutual understanding with third parties. Instead of focussing on Eurocentric and securitising narratives, the EU should engage with the world on an equal footing in order to communicate even more strategically. To this end, a more self-reflexive top-level political discourse should be coupled with a holistic and joined-up approach to disinformation and a greater emphasis on ‘listening’ practices.

    Export/Citation:EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII (Chicago style) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
    Social Networking:
    Item Type: Policy Paper
    Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > External relations > common foreign & security policy 1993--European Global Strategy
    EU policies and themes > External relations > security/external-general
    Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
    Series: Series > College of Europe (Brugge) > College of Europe Policy Briefs
    Depositing User: Daniel Pennell
    Official EU Document: No
    Language: English
    Date Deposited: 10 May 2021 10:14
    Number of Pages: 6
    Last Modified: 10 May 2021 10:14
    URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/103383

    Actions (login required)

    View Item

    Document Downloads